Boks toying with 7-1 bench split for Ireland clash, says Erasmus

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus says they are considering going with a seven-one split on the bench for their crucial Rugby World Cup encounter against Ireland on Saturday.

This statement by Erasmus on Monday started the mind games ahead of the Pool B clash in Paris and will probably send the Irish camp and rugby fraternity into a frenzy.

The Boks showed how devastating a bench of seven forwards can be when they dismantled New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up game before the start of the tournament.

Although circumstances — a late injury-forced change to the team — dictated the seven-one ploy against the All Blacks, Erasmus mentioned at the time the Boks might use it again if conditions allowed for it, and this weekend seems like a possibility.

‘Innovative things’

“I don’t think we can go eight-zero, that is a bit extreme. But seven-one is definitely an option,” said Erasmus when speaking to the media on Monday.

“I think there are a lot of teams doing a lot of innovative things. The six-two a couple of years back was new to people and now a lot of teams are doing six-two. If you go seven-one you have to have players like Kwagga Smith, someone that is used to playing at the Sevens level against Fiji.

“Then again, you have guys like (Ireland flyhalf) Johnny Sexton who can exploit it when you get an injury early in the game,” he said.

Saturday’s clash in Paris pits the top two nations in the world against each other. There’s plenty at stake with the winner set to top the pool and possibly avoid tournament hosts, France, in the quarter-finals.

Johnny Sexton

Key to the Springbok winning will be the neutralisation of Ireland skipper Sexton, who Erasmus described as influential.

“He is vital in my opinion. The aura he has about him is exceptional, not just for his own team, but very intimidating for us as the opposition,” Erasmus said.

“When I was at Munster, we beat them [Leinster, where Sexton plays] once. Whenever Johnny is in the team a lot of things happen, not just as a player, I think the aura around him and his presence.

“For a man at 38 to score tries like he did this weekend … As long as he is physically out there, there is no doubt about [his influence].”

With regards to Bok selection for the match, Erasmus ruled out Handre Pollard, who joined the World Cup squad on Monday as a replacement for injured hooker Malcolm Marx.

“No, he will not be selected for this week apart from if we get two or three injuries.

“It’s good to have him here, now he will get up to our intensity of training sessions, slot in nicely. I’m sure somewhere we will use him but not this weekend,” Erasmus said.